Gernby

I tried using the search engine to look for threads about tranny oil coolers, but I didn't find anything. Do any of you know if there is a way to add a small oil cooler on our transmission?

If there isn't one already, I have been considering manufacturing one. If I replaced the drain plug with an outlet hose going to a small electric pump, then I could pump the oil through a small oil filter and radiator. The oil could flow back in through the fill hole. I guess an electronic thermoswitch would also be needed to turn the pump off when the oil was below a certain temp.

Gernby

My motivation for this is because my 2nd gear grinds badly after about 20 minutes of "sport" driving. I suspect this will get worse as the summer temps reach their peak. I am also thinking that the cooler might allow a thinner oil to be used, like Redline MTL, to reduce the notchy shifting when the oil is cold.

t.c.

The oil in the transmission doesn't stay cold for a long time so notchy shiftting is not a problem for me ...BUT gear grinding is very annoying and i was asking myself this question : How hot the trans. oil become when it's starting to grind ( what temperature ?? ) Anybody knows ?? Nobody have never put some kind of sensor with digital thermometer in this transmission ?
Maybe cmnsnse who made some trans. mods. on his car did that ??
Anyway buddy, i think the oil temp. is a part of the gear grinding problem but if you could install a radiator on this trans. you definitely could help preventing gear grinding.
I remember a post on a link for a trans. rad. it was very expensive but it could help our buddy here...Anyone have this link ?
Keep us informed man !!

Tedster

After several track sessions in the heat at Thunderhill, my transmission was very unhapp. I couldn't engage fifth gear without extreme pressure, and the deceleration buzz was much louder than usual. After an hour and a half cooling at lunch, all was well again.

I am planning on replacing the transmission fluid again soon, but a cooler might be a good idea for those that experience this sort of thing often.

Gernby

It wouldn't be any more difficult to add an oil temp guage to the assembly, but I don't think it would be necessary after everything is working properly.

I have been trying to figure out what kind of a pump would be suitable for this. I don't know if it would be best to use a high flow inline fuel pump, or if I will need a pump specifically for oil. I don't think that the flow would need to be all that high, but it would need to build up enough pressure to pump the oil through the oil filter.

I wonder how much longer the car could be driven between tranny oil changes, if the oil was filtered, and the total capacity of the oil system went from 1.5 quarts to 3 quarts or so.

Prolene

Interesting. Something attaching to the fill/drain openings sounds like it also can be removed and changed back to stock fairly easily. My trans grinded a lot at the hot Pahrump track. I also would be interested in a trans oil cooler.

marcucci

You first need to identify that you need one; grinding does not mean that your oil isn't doing it's job. This is good to know that the '02's have the same problem, as with most models Honda "claims" an improvement or redesign only to have the same issues come up over time.

At any rate- you need to determine how hot the oil gets and if it's hot enough to be out of range for the oil. I would suspect that the Honda fluid is similar to regular motor oil and is probably good well past 200 degrees.

Conversely, if you have a cooler you do want a temp gauge- it would be nice to know it's working right and doing it's job, right?

My suspicion is that the oil is not the problem and it is not getting too hot.

Gernby

[QUOTE]Originally posted by marcucci
[B]You first need to identify that you need one; grinding does not mean that your oil isn't doing it's job. This is good to know that the '02's have the same problem, as with most models Honda "claims" an improvement or redesign only to have the same issues come up over time.

Gernby

I really doubt that the problem is that the oil is getting to hot to do its job. In fact, I think that the oil is just getting hot enough, that it is doing its job too well. I remember the time I put Mobil 1 in my Integra's transmission, thinking it would provide "better protection". It only took me a couple miles of driving to figure out what a mistake that was. It lubricated the synchros so well that they couldn't do their job.

I think that the oil additives that allow the synchros to work, don't work well hot.

marcucci

Sounds to me like you need to visit the dealer.